What’s Eating My Tomatoes?

Ours won’t win anything. First it was the bugs. Worms. Caterpillars. Whatever. But that was just the beginning.

Have to say this is our most successful year ever for tomatoes. Translation: we have TONS of green tomatoes all over five plants.

Husband is far more excited than I am. Tomatoes are his idea. Of course, his idea is for ME to buy, plant, water, fertilize and oversee them. Then he eats them. My stomach doesn’t particularly care for tomatoes.

So we have these five really lush plants covered with fruit.

First there were the little holes.

“Get up really early,” I said (wifely participation only goes so far).

“You have to catch these worms or whatever they are really early. They feed while it’s light but still cool. Then they retreat back down into the soil.”

Her theory was that birds would peck the hard balls, get discouraged and leave the subsequently-forming tomatoes alone. She and her husband George grew incredible produce on their place out on South Main.

I tried it. Every branch I put a ball on died. Of course, I couldn’t find red Christmas tree balls in April. So I used pink plastic Easter eggs. Think that was the problem?

Anyway, Husband isn’t into “early.”

The holes continued and got worse.

“Spray something!” he said.

Naw.

“Get one of my old Windex bottles,” I said. “Wash it well, put in a teaspoon of liquid detergent, fill with water and spray the plants. Won’t hurt the tomatoes and will kill bugs. But you have to spray up under the leaves. Insects like to cling to the undersides of leaves.”

He wasn’t into that either.

It didn’t matter.

Pretty soon he spied a squirrel running across the yard while holding a nice size green tomato.

I swear this is true. Husband and I were sitting in our bay window chairs, staring out at the fig tree. A squirrel popped his head out of the foliage, looked right at us (at Husband, I’m sure) and, without moving his head, reached over, popped off a little green fig and threw it at us!

So now they’re eating the tomatoes too.

Sigh.

That’s not the end.

We’re out in the yard in the evening, Husband lets his four dogs out to run, and the little Brittany spaniel runs over to the tomatoes, grabs a HUGE green tomato and, before we can move, eats it!

If we could just see a touch of pink on any tomato, we could pick it, bring it inside, let it ripen and then enjoy it. A tinge of pink tells you the ripening process has begun.

But so far, no pink.

Probably 100+ tomatoes out there and not a “tinge” of pink! Whats’ going on?

Bugs, squirrels, dogs, no pink . . . I think the tomato gods are trying to tell us something.

Obviously our tomatoes will not be among those celebrated at both Cornelius Nursery Saturday, June 9. But don’t let that stop you.

Between 9 and 11 am, enter tomatoes in the Best Quality Tomato and Largest Tomato competitions.

Judging starts at noon. Master Gardeners will be on hand to help home tomato growers at Chef Jeff Tomato Contest. The contest will be conducted at both Cornelius Nurseries, 2233 South Voss Road, 3/4 mile north of Westheimer (713-292-0898) and 1200 North Dairy Ashford, south of I-10 ( 281-493-0550)

By the way, you don’t have to have a vegetable garden to grow tomatoes. They do great in containers as well. One option: Check out the Earth Box ,a resource for growing tomatoes on your porch or patio. And those will be easier to protect from . . . whatever.

If you live “up nawth” near Spring or Tomball, The Arbor Gate is holding its Tomato Contest on June 9 too. Bill Adams, Jeremy Kollaus and Chef Chris Crowder will be on hand. Details: www.arborgate.com. Judging starts at 10 a.m.

If you know of any other tomato contests, feel free to add them through the comments below.

8 Responses

Love love your blog post about tomato thieves…I suspected squirrels would eat mine but they have ignored 3 ripe ones I have already picked so the culprit last night (I suspect) who found one turning pink among 6 green “golf balls” was a possom. We have at least one who visits every night and sleeps on the cannas and raises cain on the deck! Good reminder about the Cornelius annual tomato contest June 9…last year we invited Houston chef Arturo Boada to grill tomatoes recipes for contestants at the June judging…delicious dishes that are featured on his menu at http://www.arturoboada.com

I’m feeling like a REAL LIVE gardener. WOW!! I have tomatoes and am eating them. Ok, so they are just Sweet 100′s and Grape Tomatoes. BUT they count. Or do they? In our yard, the critters are watching the fig tree. We won’t see one fig. Can’t have everthing.

PS Truely,I’m not bragging. I am amazed with my good luck. Thank you Gardening Gods.

I know the bugs and worms are bad for the tomatoes, but the children love to find them. I was wondering what was eating the tomato plant in the cylinder garden at the school. They found seven horn worms! I showed them them the red horns on it. It had only eaten one tomato. I took all of them off since I had the gloves on. I did not have to spray and we did not have any more. I put them in a bucket and of the boys all started chanting fight, fight, fight! We fed the worms to the fish in the fish pond. It was a fun day in the garden for all that they will not forget. Gardening with children is a great way to teach them about worms and flowers.

Thanks so much for mentioning the Cornelius Tomato Contests this weekend. It should be alot of fun, with or without the squirrels. Good luck to all competitors and the miniature tomatoes are certainly eligible to enter in the contest.

I’m growing a Mighty Mato, a grafted tomato plant, in an Earth Box with some netting in North Texas so we’ll see. Our scotties keep some of the squirrels out of my husband’s garden but not all of them.

I found about 3 green tomato hornworms chomping on the tomato plants. One had those wasp eggs on it, so I let it go hoping the wasps would hatch. Today I found what looks like a brown hornworm on a penta close by the tomatoes. Is it the same species? It is huge. I have lots of pentas, so I put it in a cage with some. I did some research online and I think it may turn into a big moth, but I’m not sure its the same thing. The eating part of the catapillar almost looks like a short trunk of an elephant on this huge catapillar. It has diagonal marks on its side and ‘eye’ marks on its back.